1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.*
Colloquy of the Young Woman and Friends
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;*
3your anointing oils are fragrant;
your name is perfume poured out;
therefore the maidens love you.*
4Draw me after you; let us make haste.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.*
5I am black and beautiful,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.*
6Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept!*
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you make it lie down at noon,
for why should I be like one who is veiled
beside the flocks of your companions?*
8If you do not know,
O fairest among women,
follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture your kids
beside the shepherds’ tents.*
Colloquy of the Young Man, Friends, and the Young Woman
9I compare you, my love,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.*
10Your cheeks are comely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.*
11We will make you ornaments of gold,
studded with silver.
12While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of En-gedi.*
15Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.*
16Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
17the beams of our house are cedar;